'3 to 4 Drishyams' are the tonic Bollywood needs, says Ajay Devgn

Los Angeles, Nov 22

'Drishyam 2', headlined by Ajay Devgn has brought some much-needed cheer to the beleaguered Bollywood box office with a strong opening worldwide weekend gross of Rs 89 crore, reports 'Variety'.

The suspense thriller, which also stars Tabu and Akshaye Khanna, is a sequel to the 2015 hit 'Drishyam'. The Hindi-language films are remakes of the Malayalam-language 'Drishyam' films (2013 and 2021) headlined by Mohanlal. Bollywood has been undergoing a box-office slump in 2022 and 'Drishyam 2' serves as a tonic to revive it.

"To talk about tonic, I feel it needs three or four Drishyams -- that is what is required, I hope this is the beginning," Devgn told 'Variety' in an exclusive interview. "The bottomline is all about entertainment. Also, when I watch a film, I really need to enjoy it, whatever the kinds of emotion it has."

He added: "I feel it is not very easy to make entertaining films -- you have to keep the audiences engaged for two and a half hours. And audiences have become very smart, so you can't just give them bullshit. Even when you talk about entertainment in commercial cinema, you have to give them something new."

Looking into his future, Devgn said: "I want to pick up characters who have done great things and made great sacrifices, and people don't know much about them. So, we have two or three scripts that we're working on."

He was referencing his period drama, 'Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior', which was the biggest Indian box-office hit of 2020. 'Variety' reports Devgn is now planning on taking the franchise forward with films and series based on the concept of the unsung warrior.

"An unsung warrior for me does not mean sacrifices from that era, it could be in today's society. There are a lot of people who amaze you by the kind of work they're doing and making sacrifices," he said.

Next up for Devgn is 'Bholaa', a remake of the 2019 Tamil-language Lokesh Kanagaraj hit 'Kaithi' (Prisoner), which he is also directing. The film is in post production and due for a March 2023 release, 'Variety' reports.

Also ready for theatrical release is 'Maidaan', a period biographical soccer film based on the life of the legendary Indian coach Syed Abdul Rahim. The film, which has Priyamani, Rudranil Ghosh and Gajraj Rao in other lead roles, and the music of A.R. Rahman, is scheduled to be released on February 17, 2023.